BEAUTIFUL

The year was 2026. It was a stormy September night. One of the worst ones young David had experienced. Lightning forked across the dark sky and the sound of thunder seemed to reverberate from one end of the universe to the other. The windows rattled as the the rains hit them ferociously. David, sixteen at the time, sat at his desk by the window of his musty room, peering into the darkness outside. A dim table lamp, provided the only light source in the otherwise dark room, just enough light for him to see the words in the textbook he was reading. He knew it was futile though. This was one of those nights he knew he wouldn't understand much. Lightning flashes illuminated the room for brief moments and if you were there, you would have spotted the old Burna Boy poster duct-taped to the wall, along with several movie posters and a huge map of the world with a big 'X' scrawled over it. 

By general standards, this first floor apartment he lived in, somewhere in mainland Lagos, just a fifty naira bus away from the secretariat, was not bad. Sure, the taps never seemed to stop leaking, and the power, however little they actually got, always went out for a month after a bad storm but really, it wasn't that bad. He'd visited a couple friends, seen their homes and he knew he was better off but still, waves of dissatisfaction seemed to swallow him whole. It wasn't the house, he decided. It was his life. 

Letting out a sigh, he pulled back his chair, getting out and stretching. It was one in the morning, far too late to fall asleep. He was certain he'd be dozing off during morning prayers, you know, if his father decided that day was one of the days to pray. Prayer was erratic in his household, like the power supply situation in the country, and frankly, David didn't believe in God. He believed in possibility of God, though. Two different things.

He walked out of his room, torch in hand and as he passed the room of Toke, his elder sister, he heard the familiar creaking noise of her old bed. She'd snuck her good-for-nothing boyfriend, Osas, into the house again. He sighed and walked over to his father's room, the strong scent of alcohol hitting him square in the face.

There will be no morning prayer today, he thought.

He entered into the room without being called, a sacrilege on a regular day, walking over bottles of cheap beer until he stood over his father, who lay wasted on the bed. He thought of how easy it would be to just end him, right there and then. 

He thought of this several times since his mother died back in 2020, when that virus hit. Six years later and humanity was still battling with it.

"Hey, dad," he said tapping his leg. 

The old man tossed on the bed, muttering something inaudible.

"Dad," David called out. "Osas, is here. Again."

And like the flip of a switch, his father's eyes lit up. He pushed David aside as he jumped out of bed and grabbed a belt, charging towards his daughter's room.

David watched as his father kicked down the door. He'd seen this several times but he still marveled at how the old man could easily tear a door off its hinges. He heard shouts and the familiar sound of his father's hand meeting Toke's face. She ran out of the room, naked and crying, right past David and into the kitchen where she slammed the door shut. Osas was left alone to handle the old man's fury. The leather belt met his skin over and over as he ran out of the room, naked, seeking an exit. 

David's father was relentless, kicking and punch the frail boy mercilessly as he stumbled into the living room. David stood there, frozen as he watched his father pick Osas up and fling him through the sliding glass door of their first floor apartment, unto the water-logged street below. It was the first time, in real life, David saw what a human with a broken neck looked like.

He found it strangely appealing and dare he say, beautiful.

© Isaac E. W. Onyeukwu